Jack Clements

Jack Clements

Birthdate	7/24/1864
Death Date	5/23/1941
Debut Year	1882
Year of Induction
Teams	Braves, Browns, Philadelphia Keystones (UA), Phillies, Spiders
Position	Catcher

The first man to catch 1,000 games, left-hander Jack Clements held the single-season and career catcher home run records for more than 30 years.

Clements caught 1,073 games; no other left-handed backstop caught even one-third as many

Though largely forgotten today, catcher Jack Clements was an important figure in 19th-century baseball. Clements broke in with the Philadelphia Keystones of the Union Association in 1884 before moving to the city’s National League club mid season. The rest of his playing days were spent in the

Hall of Famer Harry Wright managed Clements for a decade in Philadelphia

Hall of Fame baseball pioneer Harry Wright organized and managed the game’s first professional team. He went on to pilot four different teams that were considered major league clubs. Wright’s longest stint came in Philadelphia where he managed Jack Clements. Wright and Clements were in t

HoFer Gabby Hartnett broke Clements' single-season and career home run marks

Jack Clements set many catching records during his 17 years at baseball’s highest level. In 1893 he slugged 17 dingers to set the single-season mark for home runs by a catcher. Two years later he hit .394 to establish a still-standing mark for highest batting average over a full year. By the t

A Story about Jack Clements

Lifetime passes were the brainchild of NL President Ford Frick; here’s a pictorial history

June 18th, 2016 Leave a comment

A newspaper man turned league publicist turned league president came up with a brilliant idea in 1934 — reward longtime National League players with a lifetime pass to all NL games. Senior Circuit owners approved Ford Frick’s proposal at the league meeting in December of ’34. A few months later, Frick sent out ornately decorated paper Lifetime Passes to the NL’s greatest players. He even sent one to Babe Ruth who appeared in all of 28 games for the Boston Braves in 1935. A 21-year veteran of the American League, the Babe was grateful if not surprised when he remarked, “At least the National League has a heart”. An image of the original paper pass presented to Hall of Fame outfielder Sliding Billy Hamilton can be seen below. A similar pass curiously issued to Stan Coveleski, a lifetime American Leaguer is also shown. Perhaps shamed by Ruth’s remarks, the American League joined forces in 1936 to issue a pass to all Major League contests. Players with twenty or more years of service received a solid gold pass. Seventeen men qualified for the true “golden ticket” — Ruth, Fred Clarke, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Bill Dahlen, Harry Davis, Red Faber, Walter Johnson, […]